The Ducati Team travels to Spain this week for one of the most popular events on the world championship calendar, the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez de la Frontera.

Last year’s rain-affected race saw Nicky Hayden climb the third step of the podium, while Valentino Rossi, following a fall at the beginning of the eighth lap, mounted a charge through the pack to finish in fifth place. The Italian is the most successful rider ever at the Andalusian circuit, with no fewer than eight career wins, including six in the premier class.

VALENTINO ROSSI, Ducati Team
“I’ve always liked the Jerez track a lot, and we certainly must try to do better than in Qatar. By the end of the three-day test in March, we had found a decent setup for the GP12, so we have a base to start from for this track as we prepare the bike for the race. It will be very important to work well during the Friday and Saturday practice sessions, focusing particularly on maintaining a good direction and on taking advantage of what we currently have to work with.”

NICKY HAYDEN, Ducati Team
“I really enjoy the Jerez GP. In some ways it’s like the first race all over again, because it’s a little bit different than Qatar. We’re back in Europe, with our trucks and all the crowds. It’s also a special track. It’s really tough, with very few straightaways, so you have to ‘connect the dots’ and do some hard braking. If you want to do a good lap time, it’s important to be fast in those last two right-handers. I’m looking forward to it. We tested there last month, but since then we have a race under our belt and a bit more data to consider. We know the general setup of the bike now. Last year the weather definitely mixed things up a bit, so we’ll see what it does this time.”

VITTORIANO GUARESCHI, Team Manager
“We’re returning to Jerez a month after the winter test there, so we should find very similar conditions. The first race, in Qatar, was very difficult for Valentino, as we didn’t find a good setup that would let him feel comfortable on the bike. In Spain, by taking advantage of the work we did there in March, we’ll focus on helping him once again find a good feeling. Nicky is coming off of two days of testing at Mugello, where he had hoped to make up some of the time lost during winter testing, but bad weather prevented him from doing much. Still, he was able to get to know the bike better at the first round, and he’s confident in being able to find a good setup for this track as well.”

The Ducati Test Team finished a three-day test today at Spain’s Circuito de Jerez. As usual, the activities were led by Filippo Preziosi, who followed the work schedule carried out by official test rider Franco Battaini.

Thanks to the mild and favorable weather conditions, Ducati engineers were able to perform tests on setup and electronics, and to gather important information.

Battaini was also joined by the two riders from Ducati’s satellite teams, Cardion AB MotoRacing’s Karel Abraham and Pramac Racing’s Hector Barbera. Each spent a day alternating with the Italian aboard the GP12 SAT, the former riding on Tuesday, February 21, and the latter participating today.

“We were lucky because we had three days with very good weather conditions,” Filippo Preziosi said, “and that enabled us to do quite a bit of work. With Franco (Battaini), we continued with the test program that was planned for the Test Team over the winter, trying some aspects of the electronics that we’ll keep working on with the factory riders at Sepang. I think we found out some interesting things that we’ll soon confirm with Vale and Nicky in Malaysia, where we’ll also continue working with the bike’s setup. Because we had the track available here at Jerez, we also offered our satellite-team riders the opportunity to lap and to work on their respective setups.”

The final day of testing at Jerez de la Frontera didn’t get started until 1:00 p.m., due to unfavorable weather conditions that greeted the Enel Ducati Team on its arrival at the circuit. Read the full story